Natalie Lopez, Reporter
On the evening of February 7, during a town council meeting, a vote 9-2 passed in favor of the town’s new plastic ban which will go into effect in 6 months. Not only were local organizations such as BYO (Bring Your Own) New Canaan involved in the meeting, but students from the Save Our Seas club also played influential roles in the matter.
A relatively new club, Save Our Seas aims to improve the community through addressing environmental issues. Co-presidents senior Esha Dagli and junior Alexandra Harte founded the club in hopes of a cleaner New Canaan. The pair are fueled by concern for the current state of the environment. “As I became more informed about the severity of this issue, I became more invested because I have learned that if we don’t take action now, our effects on the Earth will become irreversible,” said Esha.
Similarly, junior club member and Student Coalition’s political board president Thomas Suthons who also took an active part in the ban identified the severity of environmental issues. “I think that climate change is the most pressing issue that humanity has ever faced, and should be the main issue for everyone, regardless of party, ethnicity or income,” he said.
(Left to right) Freshman Mary Holtam, Alexandra Harte, and Esha Dagli take part in a beach clean up at Pear Tree Point in Darien. Photo contributed by Alexandra Harte.
Climate change has been broadcasted on an international scale, most of the limelight focusing on global warming. These concerns, along with the most recent bans on plastic straws, are helping people to open their eyes to the danger of plastic. According to BYO New Canaan Group and Planet New Canaan member Robin Bates-Mason, “We have a problem with plastic trash entering our waterways, eventually flowing into LI Sound. A lot of this garbage is made up of plastic
bags and marine animals often mistake these bags for food. The UN estimates that 100,000 marine animals and one million sea birds die each year from plastics from either ingestion or entanglement.”
The club seeks to better the community through both immediate action and educating those who may not know the true impact of plastic in our community. Save Our Seas has taken part in numerous beach and river clean ups in Darien, Greenwich, and New Canaan.
Now that the ban is set in stone, the club looks to focusing in on the education of the general public on environmental issues. They aim to do this with a video that will be shown to all schools in the district. “We want the younger kids, who we think already are more aware about this issue than adults give them credit for, the information they need to properly recycle, and hopefully tell their parents. We want this information absorbed, but also forwarded,” Thomas said.
Another objective of the video is to promote habits which can contribute to conserving the environment, “Educating the public is important but educating the younger generation is even more so because developing good habits at a young age is crucial,” Esha said.
The plastic ban is only the beginning, as the club looks forward in the future to bring more awareness to the community on such issues. “I hope people don’t just stop at plastic bags. My hope is that they will change every aspect of their lives to become eco-friendly,” Esha said.
Save Our Seas will continue to take action for a cleaner future. “There can’t be action without sacrifice, and climate change is not the kind of issue where we can sit here idly and just wait around, trying to please everyone. We need to act, and now,” Thomas said.
